Jeopardy! host Mayim Bialik admits to huge on-air blunder & is forced to pay back new player before Ryan Long’s 12th win
JEOPARDY! host Mayim Bialik was forced to pay back a new player Monday after admitting to a huge on-air blunder. Rideshare driver Ryan Long cruised to his 12th straight win amid the game-halting moment. Mayim, 46, is hosting Jeopardy! for the fourth week in a row, returning after alum Ken Jennings’ prior three weeks at the helm and announcement he’d […]
JEOPARDY! host Mayim Bialik was forced to pay back a new player Monday after admitting to a huge on-air blunder.
Rideshare driver Ryan Long cruised to his 12th straight win amid the game-halting moment.
Mayim, 46, is hosting Jeopardy! for the fourth week in a row, returning after alum Ken Jennings’ prior three weeks at the helm and announcement he’d be out for “months.”
“I’m handing the keys back to the talented actor-producer-writer-director (!) Mayim Bialik for a few months,” the fan-favorite surprisingly tweeted, adding, “We are lucky to have her! I’ll be back before the end of the season.”
The permanent hosting slot is still on the board and will be decided by the end of Season 38 in July 2022.
Tonight Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native Ryan drove onto the leaderboard of legends with a massive 12 wins and $226K – but something perhaps even rarer happened first; a “score change.”
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BIRDS OF THE SAME FEATHER
During the May 30th game, new player Steve Knapp buzzed in on the category Potpourri for $1000.
Mayim read the clue, “Sadly the Heath Hen went extinct in 1932, but we still have its relative, the Prarie ‘this'” she added, “Known for its courtship displays.
Steve responded as the screen showed a colorful hen, “What is: A Prairie Grouse,” but Mayim said “no.”
After seconds of silence and no other responses, Mayim stated, “That’s a chicken!”
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However, greater prairie chickens are also known as prairie grouse.
When Jeopardy! returned from commercial, Mayim stated, “Before we get into Double Jeopardy, we have a change in score to announce, and Steve it affects you.
“The judges have reviewed your response of Prarie Grouse and have decided it is acceptable, we will add $2000 your score is now correct at $3200.”
Fans were quite surprised as the game rarely stops to repay a player – let alone give them twice the amount for their trouble.
“The smugness when she said that’s a chicken. Give Steve his money #Jeopardy,” one fumed on Twitter.
“Mayimsplaining the clues in review #jeopardy It’s going to be a long May,” bashed another who seemed to be missing Ken.
A third accused, “She’s laggy, I think often it’s because she’s waiting for cues from the producers, but someone said it might be due to her being edited a lot. The thing about Ken … he actually knows the answers…because he’s that guy.”
RYAN GOES LONG!
Ryan’s big personality, big bets, and wonderfully quirky Q&A stories have thrilled fans since he arrived two weeks ago.
During his first Q&A, the contestant pumped out an Arnold Schwarzenegger impression.
Since then, he’s shared he grew up watching the storied show with his mom, who thought “Alex Trebek was so handsome.”
He also shared he once worked on an “Amish farm,” then noting, “People are gonna think I’m weird with all these stories.”
The broad-shouldered bet-maker also sweetly recanted he once fostered “four baby kittens” and “bottle-fed them” before his mom adopted them – he also has an eight-year-old son who made his bead necklace.
Tonight, he shared he was once a bouncer at a bar in Philly and fought off a raccoon.
“If you like Jeopardy, you should be watching @blirish_charm. He’s my favorite player ever. I’d hang with him any time,” one fan tweeted tonight.
Another wrote, “I’ll tell you one thing, Ryan Long has had the most interesting stories……he was also a bouncer chased by a raccoon!”
Ryan has also taken big swings, he’s bet a huge $8000 on Daily Doubles multiple games his first week and doubled his earnings in a massive $12K Final Jeopardy bet last game – as well as made multiple $0 Final Jeopardy wagers in which he presciently didn’t have the correct response.
But there’s more to the quiet quiz wiz – who nailed 25/26 clues tonight – than many may have expected.
Ryan told The Philadelphia Inquirer that he was living paycheck-to-paycheck for more than a year before flying to Culver City.
He also shared he only packed two dress shirts, because that’s all he could afford.
“I didn’t study or anything. I probably should have perused something, but I just didn’t,” Ryan said, as preparing flashcards or bringing books is a consistent contestant move. “I just kind of went in and did my thing.”
“I want to take my kid fishing. That’s really where my head is at.”
“If this opportunity hadn’t come up, I don’t know what I was going to do long-term,” Ryan also shared.
The rising champ is also extremely online during air time, tweeting during his first week, “In case anybody’s wondering why I’m constantly squinting and adjusting during the game…it’s because my glasses are 3000 miles away, where they will do the most good.”
Thankfully, the specs appear to have been flown in – even if they’ve unfortunately fogged up a bit.
He also tweeted that the wardrobe department has been “mixing and matching” his shirts hinting that while there may not be much variety there, he could be buttoned up for a few more.
Ryan is now 11 games shy of Canadian tutor Mattea Roach’s 23-game tear that ended when she lost by $1 earlier this month.
Mattea, Ryan, and Amy Schneider – all from this stunning season – will compete in the Tournament of Champions in November.
HOST BATTLE HEATS UP
While many fans have found Mayim to be a perfectly plucky presence as new champs keep emerging, she has had some “painful” games since returning this month.
She made an off-color joke about marijuana last week and seemed to misunderstand the legacy of the band Queen.
Mayim, who studied neuroscience, also replied to one contestant’s earnest autism testing Q&A with a joke: “Glad to hear spitting in a tube went better than taking blood,” the host bluntly said which upset dozens of viewers.
Even streak-holder Mattea stated after her run she wanted Ken to take over.
“As a contestant, there is something really special about being on stage with the greatest player of all time,” she told Vulture.
The duo began filling in for the legendary Alex after his tragic 2020 passing and a fleet of Season 37 celebrity guest hosts, including now-disgraced Mike Richards.
The show’s ratings nearly doubled to 9.7M viewers when Ken made his first appearance.
When Mayim took over her hosting duties the headcount dropped to 5.9 million viewers during a college championship and dipped that low last week.
The fact that the hosting slot is still undecided has been a huge point of discussion, as the late Alex had hosted since 1984.
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As another fan tweeted, “I actually like both Ken and Mayim, so that’s that, at least for me,” though one more replied that the 74-game and Greatest of All Time winner, given his resume, is simply a “better fit for the show.”
Ryan will attempt to score his 13th win tomorrow night.
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